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Thursday, 20 October 2016

MBA-Marketing Strategies

MBA-Marketing Strategies
Case Recap
Barnes and Nobles being the dominant producer of the reading materials such as books has had a good spell in the economy of the United States. For instance, in the financial year 2007, a lot about this firm despite the stiff competition from the other companies producing the same goods can be desired. The economic situation of the time was tight, but the company managed to perform pretty well. In this perspective, all the honour is due to the use of the appropriate marketing strategy (Schmitt, 2015). For the achievements in the year 2008 and beyond, the suitable mechanisms had to be employed so that all can be done to sustain the success realized in the year 2007.
Problem Identification
According to the investigations done pertaining the issue, it was discovered that customers had a different pattern of using their products that was much dictated by issues such as gender, age, likes of the people along with their dislikes among many more others. Given that much focus is framed on the books, then, the investigations was focused on the type of individuals who are typically much or less interested in reading.
Identify the root problem componentsThe root problem components are identifiable by seeking the effects of the involved technological changes with time. Over time, technology has been changing, and this has impacted the art of reading in various ways. For example, in the earlier days, there was no use of the internet as well as the televisions. However, these facilities have been made available in the modern world, and more sophisticated ones are being manufactured. Given this, people have turned their attention to these alternatives, and this has negatively affected the art of reading, hence, making those firms dealing with these print documents such as books experience a hard economic moment (Thomas , 2011). Nevertheless, internet growth has been used by some companies such as Barnes and Noble to augment their marketing strategies, and this has paid off duly. They have upgraded their mode of advertising, selling and storage more efficient by adopting the modern technology. In this perspective, they have been able to sustain their outstanding market record even in the moments of the poor economy as well as other crises.
Marketing Mix (discuss 5 P’s – product, price, place, promotion, and people)In a move to sustain their excellent performance in the market, they have harnessed more efforts on their product, price, promotion, place and lastly the people that they serve. In this case, they have made the appropriate strategies that pertain the way they ought to meet their clients' demands. Truly, customers are the most essential in business and their needs as well as their desires have to be handled well for a company to operate along the success tunnel. Given this, the prices have to be friendly to the consumer since otherwise, there are other close competitors to Barnes and Noble such as Amazon.com and the rest who could offer the same commodity at a fair price. Due to their availability, customers will have to shift for their services, and this will prove detrimental to Barnes and Noble (Hall & Gupta, 2010). For the sake of keeping the positive image of the firm being known by a considerable proportion of people, the management has to opt for the appropriate product promotional measures. Lastly, the right place for selling the items has to be determined by considering the prevailing conditions such as technology (Thomas, 2011). Such conditions have plenty of impacts on the degree of prosperity for the firm. In this perspective, a company that engages the use of modern technology is likely to thrive and outcompete its competitors. For instance, the use of internet has enabled this firm to broaden its customer base along with enhancing the efficient storage of the items for sell. Typically, books are stored in shelves and the process of storage along with sales in a bit cumbersome. However, the use of internet has solved the problem.

Social Media: Analyse the current social media planIn the present situation, the use of social media has appeared to be an effective way to promote sales. Now that many people are up to date regarding the utilization of the internet, it means that lots of individuals spend a considerable proportion of their time on the internet, and this could provide an ideal opportunity for the trading activities to be nourished. People will have the chance to have the access of the trade commodities that are produced by a given firm, and this will act as an excellent advertisement platform to the firm. As well, transactions can take place since many people who use these social sites will have to access the online commodities quickly.
SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats)On the question of strengths, weakness, and opportunities as well as the threats a firm will have to thrive when they use the appropriate mechanism in the marketplace. The use of social media will increase the chances for the growth of the business. Also, the use of online stores has made the companies that are concerned with the sale of books more efficient. Lastly, the firm has to focus on its competitive advantage to sustain its survival in the marketplace (Hall & Gupta, 2010). As abovementioned, the manner in which the companies takes each chance represents any of the four responses that have been mentioned at the beginning line. An issue might look as a strength, opportunity for the firm, a threat or a weakness. In the due course, the company will be interested in making everything a strength.
Sound alternatives/Measurements (Note: propose at least two possibilities)In the case that a firm fails to embody the ever-changing technology, there is much probability that it will have to be outcompeted by those companies that comprehend this aspect and embrace it. On the other hand, a firm that keeps incorporating the modern technology is likely to achieve in its endeavours.

RecommendationsBarnes and Noble along with other enterprises have to use the common technology for them to reach their intended level of growth. Indeed, it is an appropriate marketing strategy to adopt.